Preliminary Task: Front cover textual analysis

Denotation: This college magazine consists of a colour photograph of a man looking directly into the camera and smiling. Its a medium-shot, showing his head down to his shoulders. He seems to be standing, although the bottom half of his body cannot be seen. The background of the photo is a dark metallic grey/black, and the photograph takes up the whole of the magazine cover. Behind the mans head is the "college" masthead and infront of him are nine seperate cover-lines in white and black. The main subject of each cover-line is either bold yellow or white text, which is larger than the rest of that cover line. There is also a barcode in the bottom left corner.

Masthead: The "college" masthead is quite basic as it's just bold yellow text. The font used is.....! The wod college connotes that the magazine is has a basis of knowledge and learning. Also, it connotes that it would be helpful, and an interest to college students.


Character: The cover photograph is of an unknown subject wearing casual clothes and holding educational books. This, along with the masthead, connotes that he is a college student. Also the subject has a smile on his face which would suggest that he is happy and relaxed. This connotes that college life is fun and enjoyable, which breakes down the ideology that people have.


Composition: He is posed in a very casual and laid-back way, using one hand to hold his books, but the other is just hanging loose at his side. His posture, facial expression, and clothing suggest that he is a laidback and care-free college student, who somehow still seems to be responsible and commited to his study's.


Costume: His costume is a plain white v-neck t-shirt under a black khaki jacket, black denim jeans and a silver cross chain. This cosume has been cleverly selected to appeal to the target audience of this magazine (college students).


Cover-Lines: The main cover line is related to the subject in the picture jeffrey "assassin" campbell. It reads: "Dancehalls Bright Future: Jeffrey "assasin" campbell". This is making referance to jeffrey's recent success in the music industry with dance hall music. This is seen to most teens as a big accomplishment, and many teens look up to him as a role-model, especially those who are looking to go into the music industry. The other cover-lines on the front page show that this magazine is not only interested in music, but also a ride range of other topics that interest college students. Topics included in the cover-lines range from mobile phones to spring break holidays, which shows that this magazine is diverse in what articles it releases.


Target audience: I think that the target audience is teenagers that are attending sixth form college. I think this because the Mast head reades "college", yet the topics shown in the cover lines seem to relate to teen interests and not adults. Also the subject on the front cover seems to be a young man, wearing a "popular" style of teen clothes.